Protect Life Act

Floor Speech

Mr. ANDREWS. I thank my friend for yielding.

What I'm hearing from the people in my area, I think most Members are hearing this, is the American people want the divisiveness to stop and the jobs to start.

This bill tonight does the opposite. It's the most divisive issue we could really put before this House and this country.

There was a carefully balanced compromise that's been the law of the land--and is the law of the land--for a very long time that says that taxpayer money should not pay for abortion, but that a woman who chooses to have an abortion with her own money has that right.

This bill upsets that balance but, more importantly than that, I think this bill ignores the opportunity for us to come together and stop the divisiveness and start working on the problem the country wants us to work on, which is the creation of jobs.

Tomorrow will be yet another Friday without a paycheck for millions of Americans. It might be the day that a small businessman or businesswoman closes their shop for the last time. It might be the day that the mortgage foreclosure is executed and someone loses their home.

This country is in crisis. There is an emergency around this country that needs to be dealt with right now.

People feel very, very deeply about the issue of abortion on both sides. I respect both sides. The law respects both sides with the compromise that we have.

What we ought to collectively respect is the urgent demands of the American public to come together and get to work to put the country back to work. That should be the agenda of the Congress, not this bill. Let us work our will, and whatever it is tonight, I'll be voting ``no.'' But can't we work our will on a plan to work together and put the country back to work?

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